PIONEER. The recent closing of the historic Harry P. Leu...

CFB REPORT THOUGHT TALK AND SPECULATION

April 30, 1990

PIONEER. The recent closing of the historic Harry P. Leu Inc. industrial-supply company in Orlando is another footnote to the life of one of the city's most colorful leaders. Leu, who died in 1977 at age 93, was a world traveler who collected plants from exotic lands. He wore out new Packards by speeding along the city's many unpaved streets in the early 1900s, and wielded more power than most politicians, though he never held office. He even was kidnapped by a trio of thugs in 1939 and driven in his new Packard to a remote spot in west Orange County, where he used his skills of persuasion to talk the men into taking his car and cash and sparing his life.